Unemployment Soars

The deepening economic recession is taking a tremendous toll on construction workers. In May, construction’s unemployment rate jumped to 19.2%, more than double last year’s 8.6% rate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The latest unemployment rate represents 1.77 million construction workers who are out of work. In May, total construction employment was 6.3 million, down from 7.3 million a year ago.

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